About Floods:
Floods are natural hazards that have the capability to be extremely destructive. When there is a heavy downpour of constant rain the water builds up in the rivers. After a long period of time the water will eventually run out of places to go, causing rivers to break their banks, resulting in a flood. In late 2010 and early 2011, floods caused a natural disaster throughout most of Queensland. 38 people died and many more were severely injured. Children were separated from their parents leaving many scared and confused. It affected both the land and the vegetation of Queensland and changed the social, environmental and economic status of Queensland as a state. We saw many organisations from all over Australia come together to help the residents of Queensland and many people made donations helping the shelters that were set up for people who were unable to go home due to the floods.
Causes:
There are many different types of floods which are cause by many key factors. The 2011
Queensland floods were a combination of three types; flash floods, river floods and coastal floods. River floods are caused when rivers break their banks because they no longer have the capacity to hold any more water due to a large downpour of rain. Flash floods occur when there is a large amount of water in a short period of time. Coastal flooding is caused by strong winds that blow large waves into the land. The 2011 floods were the result of the combination of two natural hazards; La Nina and the Tropical Cyclone Tasha. When there is a La Nina, trade winds that come from the Pacific Ocean cause warm water to pool in off the coast of Australia. This fuels the cloud development and rainfall making east Australia much wetter than usual. Tropical Cyclone Tasha contributed to the large winds and big waves that caused the floods to be so destructive.

Location:
The Queensland floods covered much of Queensland and ranged from 27.56° S to 23.38°S in latitude and 146.24° E to 151.27° E in Longitude.
Place
Dalby
Toowoomba
Charleville
Rockhampton
Latitude
27.18°S
27.56°S
26.40°S
23.38°S
A=Dalby
B= Toowoomba
C= Charleville
D= Rockhampton
Longitude
151.27°E
151.95°E
146.24°E
150.51°E
Altitude (m)
343
680
306
13.4

Landform, Climate and Vegetation:
The 2011 floods arrived during summer. Queensland’s location and its close proximity to the equator was a primary factor in the seasonal weather. The high temperatures and humid climate prior to the floods resulted in the land being very dry and arid, as all of the moisture in the vegetation had evaporated due to the heat. The land was not accustomed to having rain and the rivers had shrunk causing the land to flatten out. Due to the flatness of the landscape, the water from the heavy rainfall had nowhere to go, causing it to build up and flood. At first when the sudden downpour of rain occurred, the vegetation reacted quickly.
This meant that the soil became rich and healthy and flora began to grow at a rapid pace.
However, due to the continuous rain, the flora drowned because of the large amount of water. The fact that the climate went from very dry to extremely wet in such a short period of time resulted in the destruction of the landscape.
Toowoomba 2010-2011
(27.56°S, 151.95°E)
Rainfall
(mm)
Temp
(°C)
Jul
29.2
16.5
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
88.4 92.6 81.0 76.0 400.0 413.0 108.4 120.4 42.8 69.6 11.0
16.7 20.2 21.0 23.1 23.6 26.0 27.1 24.8 22.0 18.2 15.6

Social, Environmental and Economic Changes:
The 2011 Queensland floods had many social, environmental and economic effects on the population and the state. Approximately 38 people died and many others were injured. The floods destroyed many homes and everything in them, leaving families without shelter.
They were forced to completely re-start their lives. Many people were devastated by either the loss of a loved one or the destruction of their home and were not able to return to their normal lives for a long time. Parts of Queensland have had to be completely re-built and many memories were destroyed.
Eco-systems in Queensland have become accustomed to the harsh conditions and are now resilient to smaller floods. No environment however, could ever be prepared for large floods like the devastating one in 2011. Usually smaller floods fuel the growth of flora and fauna; however the 2011 floods caused pollution in both the water and air, resulting in the death of many of the species living in the surrounding environment. For example; the number of fish species in Queensland has decreased since the floods because they died due to the pollution and toxins in the water.
The economic changes due to the floods were enormous. The total damage cost added up to be more than $2.38 billion and affected most of Australia too. Queensland is a large holiday destination and many businesses make money from tourists. The 2011 floods have largely decreased the amount of tourism because it has demonstrated how unpredictable the weather is at Queensland, making it difficult for businesses like hotels to make a profit.
Prices of items produced in Queensland, such as bananas, increased greatly as crops were destroyed and supplies were limited. Businesses lost their stock sending many into debt and transport systems shut down, leaving many without a way to work to pay for the damages making it difficult to rebuild their lives.
The homes of many families
Some of the pollution and damages

Response:
The Queensland Floods in 2011 was a true indicator of the spirit that Australians possess.
There were many fundraising efforts that earned tremendous amounts of money. Some of these included:
 The Flood Relief appeal: Australia Unites telethon, broadcasted by Nine Network on the 9 th of January that raised over $10 million.
 The Twenty20 cricket match between England and Australia on the 12 th of January’ when both teams donated some of their match fees and more than $28000 was collected from people in the audience
 Rally for Relief which was held the day before the Australian open when many famous tennis players took part including Roger Federer, Leyton Hewitt and Andy
Roddick. This attracted an audience of 15 000 people and raised over $750 000.
State Emergency Service personnel were sent from both New South Wales and Victoria and more than 55000 volunteers helped clean up Queensland. Organisations such as the Red
Cross, SES and the Flood Appeal were all involved in helping Queensland. Floods are impossible to prevent however plans can be made to minimise the impact they have. These include;

To prevent the loss of livestock farmers can move their livestock to higher ground

When building houses in flood prone areas make provisions such as having the garages down the bottom of the houses

Prepare a plan of what they would do if a flood did strike

Residents of Queensland need to ensure that their insurance policies cover damages and loss of business caused by floods.
It is important that small things like this are put into place so that the damage could be minimised and there are less people in need at a time of disaster. This way Queensland will be able to show that natural disasters can prepare us for the future and teach us to be prepared.
Twenty20 match Rally for Relief Players

Bibliography
Internet Sites:
 http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010%E2%80%932011_Queensland_floods
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8254
976/Australia-floods-what-caused-the-flooding.html
 http://www.redcross.org.au/queensland-floods-2011.aspx
 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_did_the_Brisbane_floods_occur
 http://www.chiefscientist.qld.gov.au/publications/understanding-floods.aspx
 http://www.smh.com.au/?reload=true
 http://beafunmum.com/2011/01/queensland-floods-toowoomba-one-familys-story/
 http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/floods.htm
Image Sites: o http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/flooded-towns-in-queensland-declarddisaster-zones/story-e6frf7l6-1225979751206 o http://www.blog.jiarenlau.com/2011/01/10/flash-flood-hits-toowoomba-cbdphotos-of-aftermath/ o http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/floodrelief/queensland-floods-interactivebefore-and-after-photos/story-fn7ik2te-1225987255127 o http://day2day-morningcoffee.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/flooding-andmudslide.html
o http://www.masey.com.au/2011/01/2011-queensland-floods-the-big-wet/